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Dodge pickup truck parade sets new standard

DRESDEN – A new Guinness World Record was set Saturday when 273 Dodge and Ram pickup truck owners took part in a parade here.

A total of 276 vehicles were entered into the parade that began on Park Street and made it's way through a section of a North Street en route to the Dresden Raceway where participants did a lap before parking in the centre of the track.

Morgan Wilber, adjudicator for Guinness World Records, said 273 vehicles were counted entering the Dresden Raceway, which determined the official total and established a new world record.

She said the largest parade of Dodge vehicles is a newly-created record, so the minimum of 250 participants was set.

Wilber said there were many specifications that needed to be met in order to qualify for the record with the most important being the number of Dodge vehicles.

“Since it is a parade, it did have to represent a parade, so it had to be a minimum of 2.2 miles or 3.2 kilometres here in Canada,” she said.

“It had to be a continuous parade, so there couldn't be major gaps,” she added.

Louann Gosselin, of Cottam, participated in the parade with her husband and four children.

Noting both she and her husband work for Chrysler, she said they heard about the event and thought it would be interesting.

“We brought out our truck and just wanted to be part of history,” Gosselin said.

She added her children are big fans of the Guinness World Records book, which is one of their favourite Christmas gifts every year.

As for the event, Gosselin said, “it's a really neat family atmosphere,” adding they met a lot of nice people while waiting to take part in the parade.

Ken Dame, of Woodslee, drove the final vehicle in the parade.

He was undecided about coming, but since his friend was among the organizers, “I thought I might as well come down and see what's going on.”

A lifelong Dodge customer after working at Chrysler for 43 years, he joked: “It wouldn't be nice of me to try anything else but a Dodge.”

Noting he used to own horses and take them into parades, Dame said these events can be quite time consuming.

“But this one went very well,” he said, praising it for being well organized.

Brian Spotts, of Hamilton, took part in the parade with his wife and daughter.

“We heard about it and we're proud Dodge truck owners so we decided to come,” he said.

He said being part of a Guinness World Record “is pretty cool, it's something unique.”

Alicia Van Esse, a director with the Dresden Agricultural Society, said, “ a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication” went into making the parade happen.

There was word some people even switched from other pickup truck manufacturers to be part of the parade.